Mobile Payments Operator M-Pesa Ventures Abroad

With the recent expansion of Safaricom’s M-Pesa money transfer service to the UK, Kenyans abroad now have an additional cash remittance avenue besides the well-known Western Union and MoneyGram services.

According to Safaricom’s chief executive Michael Joseph, the firm plans to run the Kenya-UK service for three months before expanding to other markets.

“We would like to introduce the service to Uganda, the United Arab Emirates and US, but only after we comply with regulatory issues in those countries,” said Mr. Joseph.

To send money to Kenya using the service, users will be required to identify themselves, provide the recipient’s name, Kenyan mobile number and the amount being sent in pounds Sterling.

With transaction fees ranging from $5.6 to $9.6, the transfer is converted to Kenya shillings at the day’s prevailing exchange rate, thereby guarding against exchange fluctuations as it is an instant transfer.

Currently, the maximum amount that can be transferred internationally through M-Pesa is $350 with the amount allowed per month from a single sender in the UK capped at $14,000.

M-Pesa, which was launched in Kenya in 2007, had a subscriber base of 7.3 million by end of July, served by an agent network of over 12,000, with cumulative person-to-person transfers of $2.7 billion. The volume of monthly transfers is $2.5 million.

The move to launch the service in the UK is seen as one meant to tap into the international remittances market especially from Kenyans living and working abroad.